On her maiden visit to India after Expedition 33 last year, Indian American astronaut and US Navy officer Sunita shared not just fun anecdotes from her time in space but also experiences that changed her personally.

New Delhi: Barely a few months after her last space odyssey, Sunita L Williams longs to 'fly' again. Four months in the International Space Station and several laps around the earth has changed her perspective towards life, she said. It has taught her "tolerance" for everyone and made her believe that people are "universal citizens" of a beautiful planet.

On her maiden visit to India after Expedition 33 last year, Indian American astronaut and US Navy officer Sunita shared not just fun anecdotes from her time in space but also experiences that changed her personally. Addressing hundreds of students at the National Science Centre on April 1, Sunita described her latest expedition as a "vacation" from the earth which seemed to fleet away too soon. She screened a short film with intriguing clippings of her days in the spacecraft.

A jovial Sunita cracked jokes about her experiences which had the students in splits. She described the sprinkling of holy water by priests before the team takes off as the "last shower" till you are back on earth. She demonstrated how using the toilet in space could be tricky -" you can go all over the place if you don't aim it" she said pointing to a pipe that is used to answer nature's call.

In a candid talk, Sunita also shared her journey of becoming an astronaut. "I did not dream of becoming an astronaut . I loved animals and wanted to be a veterinarian. I was a good swimmer, too, and my brother talked me into going to the naval academy. I was a helicopter pilot and until my mid-twenties didn't realize that I could become an astronaut." Her passion for adventure and the outdoors finally got her thinking about a career as an astronaut. As students listened in awe, she gave them a piece of advice. "Find something that you like doing and you will do it well. Put your mind to it."

She never got bored in space. When she had the time she would peep out of the spacecraft window and watch the earth and stars go by. "The first thought that came to me was that the earth is really round. It's spectacular . Then there is more you can see—the beautiful blue ocean and even the coral blooms within changing colours . It made me wonder about how lucky we are. About what is our purpose in life," she said.

Sunita described herself as a "spiritual person who is rooted to India" . Onboard Sunita misses walking her dogs on the beach and feeling the sand under her feet. "My husband who is a very supportive partner hates the fact that I miss my dogs more," she laughed.

Her path to success was not linear. She acknowledged that the profession is dominated by men and that, too, by "white guys" . "You got to be confident. Don't alienate yourself from the team because you are different. I looked at who I am as an opportunity ."

Sunita's voice filled up with emotion when she was asked about her close friend and colleague Kalpana Chawla . Her death in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster did not make Sunita nervous. "We had trained a lot and I had confidence in the team that was rebuilding the system . I had to continue Kalpana's dream," she said.

Many questions including what she thought of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi were hurled at Sunita but she parried them gracefully . She concluded her talk with "hopes for a manned mission to Mars and an asteroid someday" . For now, Sunita just wants to board the next spacecraft and fly once again.